Sunday, October 28, 2007

Just a quick post about tonight... Sr. Helen Prejean, the author of the book Dead Man Walking, has come to Winthrop University in Rock Hill. She was at Mass tonight and gave the homily, then after Mass a lot of us went to a reception for her followed by a preview of the play, Dead Man Walking. That's a story in itself, because the play was supposed to be held in the black box theater in Johnson Hall, but there was a fire there Friday so they had to move to a lecture hall in Rutledge. (Maybe Em can enlighten us on how difficult this may have been.) I talked with the set designer and the stage manager afterwards and they told us that the play is technologically heavy (did I say that right?) and not having their sound system at all really hurt tonight. The performance was still great, imho... The actors did a terrific job! And the stage manager was really on her toes :-)After the play I overheard Sr Helen talking with the cast. She told them that acting was a very important vocation, that through their participation in drama they were open to new ways of looking at things, and they opened up their hearts to new ways of feeling. She was so affirming of these young actors, it was really terrific to be there and witness this. It was also touching to see her greet the actress who played the lead (i.e., Sr. Helen)with a big hug... she was just such a loving affirming person. I get to go hear Sr. Helen speak tomorrow night at Winthrop -- a couple of my students jumped ship because of a CMS break. Yay! (She is also speaking Tuesday night at Davidson College -- fyi, in case anyone in the area is reading this...) This is all very challenging, but I feel like I need to understand this issue better. And it really isn't just one issue...

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Anybody who knows me more than just a little knows I'm pretty much of a book nut... I frequent independent booksellers and used bookstores and library book sales when the opportunity arises. One of my goals in life is to have a lot of time to read...but I'm not there yet! Anyhow, I thought some of my fellow book lovers would be interested in knowing that Better World Books (BWB) now has an online store, BetterWorld.com, where you can buy books with free (in U.S.) environmentally-friendly shipping. (Shipping overseas is very cheap: $2.97) The website is pretty easy to use, and a portion of the profit supports non-profit organizations working to promote literacy. (I'm curious to find out what that portion is -- I've sent them an e-mail and should hear back in a couple of days.)

I became familiar with BWB last spring through my interest in Room to Read and just got around to sending them the first of (hopefully) several boxes of books in support of Room to Read. (see my March 22 '07 post for more info...)

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Just found this website (thanks to jonathan) and thought this particular article might be of interest to some of those who read my blog. I keep hearing about the new Doctor Who and wish I could see it sometime. Maybe that's something I should put on my Netflix list? Meanwhile I have started watching Foyle's War on another friend's recommendation and will probably continue to get the videos of these for awhile. They are very good plus this is a period of history and location in which I am very interested.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

A link to an article about Fr. Louis Vitale's peace-making efforts... I hope and pray he doesn't have to go to prison for this!! I become more disgusted every day with the people who are in power in this country...

Sunday, October 14, 2007

I'm planning to walk in the CROP Walk in Rock Hill on October 21 (next Sunday!) This will be the first time I have participated as a walker after years of being a sponsor, so I'm pretty excited about it. I sent out an e-mail just now to a bunch of folks, but I may very well have missed somebody who reads this blog... so just in case, I thought I'd post about it also. Here's what I said in the e-mail (in addition to what I said above):

Here's a link to information about the CROP Walk, which is a fundraiser for Church World Service. Also, 1/4 of the funds raised in the Rock Hill CROP Walk stay in Rock Hill to support local efforts to relieve hunger and poverty. One of these local efforts is Pilgrim's Inn, which I have been lending some practical support to since before my move last summer.

I ask several things of you:

First: your prayers for the success of this endeavor, as it is a very worthwhile project that has positive effects on the lives of so many of the poorest people in our nation and world.

Second: any financial support you can offer. I'm trying to work out a way for my sponsors to make online donations but until I get that worked out the thing to do is send me a check made out to CWS/CROP. Any amount you can send will be a help.(If you want to make an online donation let me know and I'll e-mail you when that is set up. Also, let me know by posting here or by e-mail if you need my address.)

Third: see if there is a CROP WALK coming up in your area that you can support, either by walking or by sponsoring.